Musical instrument.



F. X. AUDET.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 29. 1907. RENEWED AUG. 2. 1912.

1 ,142,744. Patented June 8; 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

WT/VESSES M V fgh 7 a WM WmMvM THE NORRIS PETERS 60., PHorourHQ.WASHINGTON, ov c F. X. AUDET.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. APPLICATION FILED APR.29,1907. RENEWED AUG. 2,1912.

j 4 5 A; a m P v v l/V/T/v 5555 THE NORRIS PETERS (20.. PHOTQLITHQ,wAsHlNm-mv n r F. X. AUDET.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED APR.29.1907- RENEWED AUG. 2, 1912.

Patented June 8, 1915.

3 SH EETSSHEET 3.

WdAZ/WYW l/l// T/VESSES 0., PHOTO-LITHO., WASHING TON. D. C.

FRANK X. AUDET, 0F BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 8, 1915.

Application filed April 29, 1907, Serial No. 370,754. Renewed August 2,1912. Serial No. 713,006.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK X. Aunn'r, citizen of the United States,residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in MusicalInstruments; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to musical instruments and moreparticularly to string musical instruments of the harp type in which thestrings may be played upon from opposite sides of the plane or planes ofthe strings.

The object of the invention is to improve the construction andarrangement of the various parts of this class of instruments andparticularly the arrangement of the strings so as to facilitate andsimplify the execution of musical compositions thereon.

With this object in view the present invention consists in theconstructions, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafterdescribed and claimed, the advantages of which will be obvious to thoseskilled in the art from an inspection of the accompanying drawings inwhich- Figure 1 is a side elevation of an instrument embodying thevarious features of the invention in their preferred forms. Fig. 2 is avertical sectional View on line 2-2 of Fig. 6 looking toward the right.Figs. 3, 4: and 5 are detail sectional views on lines 33, 4-4: and 55 inFig. 1 looking toward the right. Fig. 6 is a plan View of theinstrument. Fig. 7 is a sectional view on line 77 Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is asectional detail through the string supporting bar or head on line 8-8Fig. 6; and Fig. 9 is an en-.

larged detail showing the devices for securing and supporting thestrings at their lower ends.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings the frame ofthe instrument comprises primarily a sounding box 1 and astring-supporting head or bar 2 which is separated from the sounding boxby an intervening open space 3 through which the strings of theinstrument may pass. The head and sounding box are connected andmaintained in proper relation to each other by a back post 4: and afront post 5, the parts being constructed and united to effectivelyresist the strains due to the tension put upon the strings. The soundingbox may be of any suitable construction and shape. I prefer however toemploy a hollow sounding box and to so arrange the opposite walls thatthe box is substantially wedge-shaped, the surfaces of the boxconverging toward the space between the sounding box and the stringsupporting cross bar or head. WVith this construction the oppositesurfaces of the sounding box may be arranged substantially parallel tothe strings which is an advantage and this construction also contributesto the strength of the frame.

As shown the sounding box comprises the opposite converging walls 6united along their lower edges by the bottom piece 7 and having theirupper edges secured to a brace bar 8 which extends between the front andback posts. The opposite sides of the bar 8 are provided with rabbetedrecesses within which the walls 6 fit so that the surfaces of the wallsare flush with the surfaces of the bar and the sides of the bar abovethe recesses are shaped to form continuations of the outer surfaces ofthe walls 6 as indicated.

The strings in both the accompaniment and melody sections of theinstrument are arranged in two sets, one on each side of the soundingbox and these two sets of strings cross each other in the space betweenthe upper edge of the sounding box and the head or cross bar to whichthe upper ends of the strings are secured. The lower ends of the stringsin the accompaniment section are supported upon bridge pieces 9 and 10which are secured upon the opposite faces of the sounding box and areprovided with string supporting wires 11 and 12 respectively. The lowerends of the strings pass through holes formed through the bridge pieces,through the walls of the sounding box, and through strengthening cleats13 and 14: which are secured to the inner surfaces of the walls 6 at thepoints where the bridge pieces 9 and 10 are located. The ends of thestrings are knotted as indicated and the knots are held in engagementwith bearing strips 15 by means of pegs 16 as in dicated in Fig. 9. Thelower ends of the strings in the melody section are supported uponsimilar bridge pieces 17 and 18 which are secured upon opposite faces ofthe melody section of the sounding box, the ends of the strings beingsecured in a similar manner by pegs 16.

The upper ends of the strings are supported by bridge pieces 19 and 20arranged on opposite sides of the cross bar or head 2 and are secured tothe tuning pins 21 and 22 which project from the opposite faces of thebar. The strings which have their lower ends secured upon the right sideof the sounding box extend through the space between the upper edge ofthe sounding box and the cross bar and have their upper ends securedupon the left side of the bar, while the strings whichhave their lowerends secured upon the left side of the sounding box pass. through thespace between the upper edge'of thesounding box and the cross bar andhave their upper ends secured upon the right side of the cross bar. Thusthe two sets of strings cross each other in the space between the upperedge of the sounding box and the string supporting bar and either set ofstrings may be played upon from either side of the instrument withoutdanger of striking the other set and both sets may be played uponsimultaneously from either side at the point Where they cross.

As before stated the arrangement of the strings and the manner of tuningmay be varied as desired but it is preferred to arrange the bass stringsin the accompaniment section on one side of the sounding box and thecobperating chord strings on the opposite side of the sounding box andto arrange the strings in the melody section which are tuned to thenatural notes of the scale on one side of the sounding box and thestrings which are tuned to the sharps and flats on the opposite side ofthe sounding box, and such arrangement is indicated in the draw ing. Ashere shown the bass strings 23 are arranged on the left side of thesounding box while the chord strings 24 are arranged on the right sideof the sounding box in the accompaniment section. In the melody sectionthe strings 25 which are tuned to the natural notes of the scale arearranged on the right side of the sounding box, while the strings 26which are tuned to the sharps and flats are arranged on the left side ofthe sounding box. The manner of tuning and the more specific arrangementof the strings in the two sections is preferably that described in myapplication Serial No. 266,243 filed June 21, 1905, now Patent No.930,825, dated Aug. 10, 1909.

By arranging the strings in two planes so that they cross in an openspace the strings in the two planes can cross at a comparatively wideangle so that not only can the strings be played from either side as inthe ordinary harp, but any string in either plane can be played Withoutshifting the position of the hand up or down on the instrument. 1 Inother words, the playing position of either hand is at the intersectionof the strings and with the hand in this position the strings can beplucked at the point of intersection, or above or below this pointwithout shifting the hand up or down( This is especially advantageous inplaying the ac- 'companiment section of the instrument, it

being possible to play broken chords by plucking first a bass string andthen chord strings either without shifting the hand, or by merely movingthe hand in a horizontal direction across the instrument at the line ofintersection of the strings. This result cannot be secured on aninstrument in which all of the strings are on the same side of asounding board because the'height of the bridges over which the stringspass is limited by the tremendous strain put upon the instrument. In aninstrument in which the strings are all on one side of a sounding boardthe bridges over which the strings pass cannot with safety be made overone half an inch in height. This causes the strings in the two planes tocross at a small angle, making it necessary to move the handlongitudinally of the strings in playing broken chords.

Another advantage secured by the arrangement of strings illustrated inthe drawings is that the crossing point of the strings is remote fromthe center of the strings. The crossing point is thus removed from thepoint of greatest vibration of the strings so that a more compactarrangement of the strings is possible than would be the case if thestrings crossed at the center points of the strings. It will be obviousthat in instruments of the harp type it is highly desirable to arrangethe strings as close to each other as possible and still permit them tobe plucked either separately or in combinations. 7

In order that the tuning pins may be quickly and convenientlymanipulated in tuning the instrument, the pins 22 to which the stringson the left side of the head 2 are secured, are extended through thehead so that they project from the right side of the head and thesepins, as well as the tuning pins 21, are provided with polygonal headsfor receiving a tuning key.

In order to secure the maximum bracing and strengthening eifect from thecross bar 8 and the walls of the sounding box, and at the same time toprovide as great an extent of unconfined walls for the sounding box atthat part where the shortest strings of the melody section are located,the bottoms of the recesses in the sides of the bar 8 within which thewalls 6 of the sounding box fit, are cut away to an increasing extenttoward the front of the sounding box as indicated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5.By this construction the bearing surface between the walls of thesounding box is decreased toward the front of the instrument where thestrings are the shortest and where the extent of free wall isnecessarily limited and at the same time the bracing and strengtheningefiect of the cross bar is not materiall affected.

The nature and scope 0 the invention having been indicated and apreferred form of the invention having been specifically described, whatis claimed is 1. A musical instrument, having, in com bination, a backpost, a front post, a bottom piece and a string-supporting head or barconnecting the front and back posts, a sounding box extending upwardlyfrom the bottom piece and terminating below the string supporting headso as to leave a space between the head and the upper end of the box, abrace-bar connecting the front and back posts at the upper edge of thesounding box and strings arranged on opposite sides of the sounding boxand crossing in the space between the sounding box and the stringsupporting head.

2. A musical instrument, having, in combination, a sounding box, astring-supporting-bar separated therefrom by an open space, strings onopposite sides of the sounding box which cross in said open space, meansfor securing the upper ends of the I strings to thestring-supporting-bar and means for securing the lower ends of the1s)trings to the opposite walls of the sounding 3. A musical instrument,having, in combination, a sounding box, a string-supporting-barseparated therefrom by an open space, strings on opposite sides of thesounding box which cross in said open space, means for supporting theupper ends of the strings on the string-supporting bar,

bridges secured to the walls of the sounding box over which the lowerends of the strings pass and means for securing the lower ends of thestrings to opposite walls of the sounding box adjacent the bridges.

4. A musical instrument having in combination strings of varying length,a sounding box, a rabbeted brace bar having recesses within which thewalls of the sounding box fit, the bottoms of the recesses being cutaway to an increasing extent at the part of the box where the shorteningof the strings occurs.

5. A musical instrument having, in combination, strings of varyinglength, a sounding box comprising two oppositely disposed soundingWalls, and a brace bar supporting the walls at one end, the brace barhaving decreasing supporting surfaces at the portions of the walls wherethe shortening of the strings occurs, substantially as described.

6. A musical instrument, having in combination, a sounding box, astring-supporting bar separated therefrom by an open space, and stringson opposite sides of the sounding box crossing in said open space, saidstrings being arranged to form a melody section and an accompanimentsection, the chord strings of the accompaniment section being arrangedon one side of the sounding box and the bass strings of theaccompaniment section being arranged on the opposite side of thesounding box.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK X. AUDET.

Witnesses:

FRED O. FISH, ANNIE C. RICHARDSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. 0.

